Information processing apparatus and control method

ABSTRACT

Provided is an information processing apparatus, including: a line-of-sight detection unit configured to detect lines of sight of a plurality of users with respect to presentation information; and an area determination unit configured to determine, on the basis of the detected lines of sight of the plurality of users, a shared area that is visually recognized by the plurality of users to share information and a confidential area that is not visually recognized by another user to keep information of each user confidential.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/018,352, filed Jun. 26, 2018, which is acontinuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/503,446,filed Feb. 13, 2017, which is a National Stage Entry ofPCT/JP2015/064769, filed May 22, 2015, and claims the benefit ofpriority from Japanese Priority Patent Application JP 2014-168342 filedin the Japan Patent Office on Aug. 21, 2014, the entire contents ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to an information processing apparatusand a control method.

BACKGROUND ART

In recent years, there have been increased use cases where a pluralityof people perform simultaneous operation or simultaneously look at adocument. For example, a plurality of people surround a large screen(wall-surface display unit, electronic board, or the like) or a tabletop (table-type image display device) and conduct a meeting whilelooking at a document displayed on an image display device.

Regarding such an image display device that can be viewed by a pluralityof people, for example, Patent Literatures 1 and 2 described below areproposed. Specifically, there are proposed techniques for, in the casewhere a table-type image display device displays an object serving as adocument of a meeting on a display and participants of the meeting havediscussions on the basis of the same object, displaying the object whileenlarging the object (Patent Literature 1) or separating the object(Patent Literature 2) so that the participant who have discussions canclearly look at the object.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

Patent Literature 1:

Japanese Translation of PCT Patent Republication WO2010/021240

Patent Literature 2:

Japanese Translation of PCT Patent Republication WO2010/018770

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Technical Problem

Herein, in an environment in which a plurality of people performsimultaneous operation, interaction based on the plurality of peoplesuch as joint viewing of an object is important, whereas it is alsoimportant to hide security information from other viewers. For example,it is necessary that confidential information, such as an input screenof a personal identification number (PIN) code and content of an email,cannot be easily viewed even in the case where a plurality of peoplelook at a screen.

However, any of the conventional techniques described above does notmention keeping security information confidential.

In view of this, the present disclosure proposes an informationprocessing apparatus and a control method capable of differentiatingbetween an area that can be visually recognized only by a specified userand an area that can be visually recognized by all users on an imagepresentation surface that is simultaneously viewed by a plurality ofpeople.

Solution to Problem

According to the present disclosure, there is provided an informationprocessing apparatus, including: a line-of-sight detection unitconfigured to detect lines of sight of a plurality of users with respectto presentation information; and an area determination unit configuredto determine, on the basis of the detected lines of sight of theplurality of users, a shared area that is visually recognized by theplurality of users to share information and a confidential area that isnot visually recognized by another user to keep information of each userconfidential.

According to the present disclosure, there is provided a control methodincluding: detecting lines of sight of a plurality of users with respectto presentation information; and determining, on the basis of thedetected lines of sight of the plurality of users, a shared area that isvisually recognized by the plurality of users to share information and aconfidential area that is not visually recognized by another user tokeep information of each user confidential.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

As described above, according to the present disclosure, it is possibleto differentiate between an area that can be visually recognized only bya specified user and an area that can be visually recognized by allusers on an information presentation surface that is simultaneouslyviewed by a plurality of people.

Note that the effects described above are not necessarily limitative.With or in the place of the above effects, there may be achieved any oneof the effects described in this specification or other effects that maybe grasped from this specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a control system according toan embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a top view of a table top shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of aninformation processing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing readable area determination processingaccording to this embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing determination of a horizontal direction(long diameter) of a readable area.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing determination of a vertical direction (shortdiameter) of a readable area.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing shared/confidential area determinationprocessing according to this embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing shared/confidential area determination.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing control of presentation to a confidentialarea performed in the case where content that needs to be secured isopened.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing automatic copy performed when content ismoved from a shared area to a confidential area.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing optimization control performed when contentis moved from a confidential area to a shared area.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a specific example of hiding/deleting ofconfidential information.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an outline of area determinationconsidering object recognition according to a modification example ofthis embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing area determination processing consideringan object according to the modification example of this embodiment.

MODE(S) FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, (a) preferred embodiment(s) of the present disclosure willbe described in detail with reference to the appended drawings. In thisspecification and the appended drawings, structural elements that havesubstantially the same function and structure are denoted with the samereference numerals, and repeated explanation of these structuralelements is omitted.

Description will be provided in the following order.

1. Outline of control system according to embodiment of presentdisclosure

2. Basic configuration

3. Operation processing

3-1. Readable area determination processing

3-2. Shared/confidential area determination processing

4. Presentation control example

4-1. Presentation control of confidential information

4-2. Movement of content between areas

4-3. Hiding/deleting of confidential information when content is moved

5. Modification example

6. Conclusion

1. Outline of Control System According to Embodiment of PresentDisclosure

An outline of a control system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. In theexample shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of people (user A and user B)surround a table top 6 and have discussions while viewing information(still image, moving image, text, and the like) presented on the tabletop 6. Specifically, an image is projected onto the table top 6 by aprojector (hereinafter, referred to as “information processing apparatus1”) provided in a ceiling hanging unit 5. The user A and the user B canhave discussions while looking at the image projected onto the table top6.

Information projected by the information processing apparatus 1 may bestored in a storage unit 13 inside the information processing apparatus1 (see FIG. 3; so-called local storage) or may be acquired via a network7 from a content DB 8 (so-called web storage or server) in the network.Alternatively, the information processing apparatus 1 may be connectedto an external device (mobile terminal or the like) via wireless orwired communication such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark), Bluetooth(registered trademark), or proximity wireless communication and mayacquire the information from the external device.

An image pickup device 2 a is provided inside the ceiling hanging unit5. The image pickup device 2 a continuously captures an image of thetable top 6 and captures an image of user operation performed on animage projected onto the table top 6. The image pickup device 2 a alsocaptures an image of the users surrounding the table top 6. An imagecaptured by the image pickup device 2 a is transmitted to theinformation processing apparatus 1.

Speakers 3 a and microphones 4 a are provided in the ceiling hangingunit 5. Each speaker 3 a outputs sound accompanied by a projected image.For example, a video of a moving image is projected by the informationprocessing apparatus 1 and sound of the moving image is output from thespeaker 3 a. Sound data to be output is transmitted from the informationprocessing apparatus 1. Each microphone 4 a picks up sound of the userssurrounding the table top 6 and transmits the sound to the informationprocessing apparatus 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, image pickup devices 2 b, speakers 3 b, andmicrophones 4 b are provided in the table top 6. The image pickupdevices 2 b capture images of the users surrounding the table top 6 andtransmit the captured images to the information processing apparatus 1.Operation of the speakers 3 b and the microphones 4 b is similar to thatof the speakers 3 a and the microphones 4 a.

Note that the image pickup devices 2 b, the speakers 3 b, and themicrophones 4 b provided in the table top 6 are arranged so that theplurality of image pickup devices 2 b are differently directed as shownin the top view of FIG. 2 and pairs of the speakers 3 b and themicrophones 4 b are dispersively provided.

BACKGROUND

Herein, there has been conventionally proposed a technique fordisplaying an object serving as a document of a meeting or the like on adisplay of an electronic board or a table-top type display device sothat the object can be viewed by a plurality of people. In such aconventional technique, convenience of joint viewing among a pluralityof people has been regarded as important, but hiding securityinformation from other viewers has not been considered.

In view of this, in this embodiment, an area that can be visuallyrecognized only by a specified user (referred to as “confidential area”)and area that can be visually recognized by all users (referred to as“shared area”) are differentiated on an information presentation surfacesimultaneously viewed by a plurality of people and informationpresentation control to each area is performed, and therefore it ispossible to ensure security while regarding convenience of joint viewingamong a plurality of people as important.

Specifically, as shown in, for example, FIG. 2, a shared area M in whichfields of view of both the user A and the user B are overlapped, aconfidential area S1 that can be visually recognized only by the user A,and a confidential area S2 that can be visually recognized only by theuser B are determined in accordance with lines of sight of the user Aand the user B surrounding the table top 6. Line-of-sight directions ofthe users A and B are estimated on the basis of, for example, a capturedimage obtained by the image pickup device 2 b and sound data obtained bythe microphone 4 b.

In accordance with a determination result of areas, the informationprocessing apparatus 1 performs projection control so that information(content) 140 to be seen only by the user A is presented in theconfidential area S1, performs projection control so that information141 to be seen only by the user B is presented in the confidential areaS2, and performs projection control so that information 142 to be seenby all users is presented in the shared area M.

Hereinabove, the outline of the control system according to anembodiment of the present disclosure has been described. Note that thenumbers and arrangement positions of the image pickup devices 2 a and 2b, the speakers 3 a and 3 b, and the microphones 4 a and 4 b are notlimited to the examples shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. The speakers 3 andthe microphones 4 may not be provided. Next, a basic configuration ofthe information processing apparatus 1 included in the control system ofthis embodiment will be described.

2. Basic Configuration

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of theinformation processing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment. Asshown in FIG. 3, the information processing apparatus 1 includes acontrol unit 10, a communication unit 11, the storage unit 13, and aprojection unit 14.

(Control Unit 10)

The control unit 10 is made up of, for example, a microcomputerincluding a central processing unit (CPU), a read only memory (ROM), arandom access memory (RAM), a nonvolatile memory, and an interface unitand controls each configuration of the information processing apparatus1. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 10 according tothis embodiment functions as a line-of-sight detection unit 10 a, anarea determination unit 10 b, a user context estimation unit 10 c, anoutput control unit 10 d, and an operation detection unit 10 e.

—Line-of-Sight Detection Unit 10 a

The line-of-sight detection unit 10 a detects a line-of-sight directionof each user surrounding the table top 6 and outputs a detection resultto the area determination unit 10 b. Specifically, the line-of-sightdetection unit 10 a detects the line-of-sight direction of each user onthe basis of a captured image transmitted from the image pickup device 2a or 2 b. The line-of-sight direction of the user can be detected on thebasis of movement of eyes (pupils), a direction of a head, or a posture(direction of body). The line-of-sight detection unit 10 a can alsodetect the line-of-sight direction of the user by analyzing a soundsource direction on the basis of sound data (sound of user) transmittedfrom the microphone 4 a or 4 b and estimating a head direction orposture (direction of body) of the user. In addition, the line-of-sightdetection unit 10 a may output the detection result to the user contextestimation unit 10 c.

—Area Determination Unit 10 b

The area determination unit 10 b determines, on the table top 6(presentation surface), a shared area that can be visually recognized bya plurality of users and a confidential area that is not visuallyrecognized by other users to keep information of each user confidentialon the basis of line-of-sight directions of the plurality of usersdetected by the line-of-sight detection unit 10 a. Specifically, thearea determination unit 10 b determines a region in which readable areas(field-of-view ranges) of the users based on the line-of-sightdirections are overlapped as a shared area and determines a region inwhich the readable areas of the users are not overlapped as aconfidential area of each user. The confidential area may further bedetermined as a region that is within a certain distance from a targetuser and is separated by a certain distance from the shared area. Areadetermination processing performed by the area determination unit 10 bwill be described later with reference to FIGS. 4 to 8.

In the case where a user context is output from the user contextestimation unit 10 c described later, the area determination unit 10 bmay adjust a size of the readable area in consideration of the usercontext.

—User Context Estimation Unit 10 c

The user context estimation unit 10 c estimates what a user is lookingat (i.e., user context) on the basis of movement of a line of sightdetected by the line-of-sight detection unit 10 a. For example, the usercontext estimation unit 10 c estimates whether the user is reading asentence or viewing a moving image on the basis of movement of the lineof sight of the user. Normally, a field of view of a human is reducedwhen he/she recognizes letters, e.g., while he/she is reading asentence. Therefore, when the user context estimation unit 10 cestimates what the user is looking at and outputs an estimation result(user context) to the area determination unit 10 b, the areadetermination unit 10 b can adjust the readable area (for example, canreduce the readable area in the case where the user is reading asentence).

—Output Control Unit 10 d

The output control unit 10 d performs output control of presentationinformation in accordance with a determination result by the areadetermination unit 10 b. Specifically, the output control unit 10 dcontrols the projection unit 14 so that information (content) to be seenby each user is projected onto a confidential area of the correspondinguser on the table top 6 and controls the projection unit 14 so thatinformation to be seen by all users is projected onto the shared area.

The output control unit 10 d may perform output control of sound fromthe speakers 3 a and 3 b in accordance with a determination result bythe area determination unit 10 b. That is, the output control unit 10 dperforms control so that information to be heard (for example, videosound) only by each user is output as sound from the speakers 3 a and 3b while having directionality with respect to a position of thecorresponding user and controls the speakers 3 a and 3 b so thatinformation to be heard by all users is output as sound without havingdirectionality (nondirectionality).

—Operation Detection Unit 10 e

The operation detection unit 10 e detects user operation (tappingoperation, dragging operation, or the like) with respect to informationpresented on the table top 6. The operation detection unit 10 e maydetect user operation on the basis of a captured image continuouslycaptured by the image pickup device 2 or may detect user operation onthe basis of a detection result by a contact/proximity detection device(not shown) such as a touchscreen provided on the whole top surface ofthe table top 6. Alternatively, the operation detection unit 10 e maydetect user operation based on sound input on the basis of sound of auser picked up by the microphone 4.

(Communication Unit 11)

The communication unit 11 is connected to an external device viawireless/wired communication and has a function of transmitting andreceiving data. The communication unit 11 according to this embodimentis connected to, for example, the image pickup device 2, the speaker 3,the microphone 4, or the external content DB 7 in the network to receivea captured image, sound data, or content and transmit a control signalto issue an instruction to output sound.

(Storage Unit 13)

A program for executing each processing of the control unit 10 is storedin the storage unit 13. Further, various pieces of content such as aphotograph, a video, and a document may also be stored in the storageunit 13.

(Projection Unit 14)

The projection unit 14 includes a light source, a movable mirror, anillumination optical system, a projection optical system, and the like.The projection unit 14 is a display device for projecting a video andcauses light emitted from a high-luminance light source to betransmitted through, for example, a liquid crystal panel to therebyproject the light onto the table top 6 (presentation surface) or thelike. Specifically, light emitted from the light source is output to theillumination optical system and is transmitted through the liquidcrystal panel in the illumination optical system, and thus video lightis generated. The generated video light is output to the projectionoptical system, and the video light is projected through a projectionlens or the like included in the projection optical system onto thetable top 6 (presentation surface) or the like. The projection opticalsystem has an optical axis whose direction is substantially vertical toa projection direction of the light source.

Hereinabove, the configuration of the information processing apparatus 1according to this embodiment has been specifically described. Note that,in this embodiment, information to be presented on the table top 6 isprojected from the projection unit 14 of the information processingapparatus 1, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Forexample, in the case where a display device is provided in the table top6, the output control unit 10 d of the information processing apparatus1 instructs, via the communication unit 11, the display device toperform presentation control of content in accordance with adetermination result by the area determination unit 10 b. The displaydevice is made up of, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), anorganic light-emitting diode (OLED), or the like and is extended in ahorizontal direction on the table top 6.

The configuration of the information processing apparatus 1 shown inFIG. 3 is merely an example, and the present disclosure is not limitedthereto. For example, the projection unit 14 may be an external deviceor may include an image pickup device, a speaker, and a microphone.

3. Operation Processing

The area determination processing of the control system according tothis embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 8.

<3-1. Readable Area Determination Processing>

Readable area determination processing according to this embodiment willbe described with reference to FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 4, in Step S103,the information processing apparatus 1 acquires a captured image fromthe image pickup device 2. Acquisition of a captured image iscontinuously performed, and, in the case where a plurality of the imagepickup devices 2 a and 2 b are provided, a captured image iscontinuously acquired from each of the image pickup devices 2 a and 2 b.

Next, in Step S106, the line-of-sight detection unit 10 a of theinformation processing apparatus 1 detects a line of sight of each useron the basis of the captured image. Specifically, the line-of-sightdetection unit 10 a analyzes eyes of the user appearing in the capturedimage and detects a line-of-sight direction in accordance with positionsand movement of pupils or irises. The line-of-sight detection unit 10 acan also detect the line-of-sight direction by detecting reflected lighton corneas, the reflected light being obtained by irradiating thecorneas with an IR LED.

Then, in the case where the line of sight cannot be detected (S106/No),the line-of-sight detection unit 10 a estimates a head direction of eachuser on the basis of the captured image in Step S109. For example, inthe case where an image of the eyes of the user is not captured or inthe case where an image of the eyes is captured but the line of sight isnot detectable on the basis of the image, it is determined that the lineof sight cannot be detected. Further, in the case where the image pickupdevice 2 captures an image of surroundings in a wide range with a wideangle lens, the line-of-sight detection unit 10 a enlarges the capturedimage to analyze the captured image. Thus, in the case where resolutionthereof is low, it is difficult to detect the line of sight. Therefore,in such a case, the line-of-sight detection unit 10 a estimates the headdirection of the user on the basis of the captured image.

Next, in Step S112, the line-of-sight detection unit 10 a assumes thehead direction as the line-of-sight direction. With this, even in thecase where an accurate line-of-sight direction of the user cannot bedetected on the basis of the captured image, it is possible to performreadable area determination described later by assuming the headdirection as the line-of-sight direction.

On the contrary, in the case where the head direction cannot beestimated (S109/No), the line-of-sight detection unit 10 a estimates aposture of each user on the basis of the captured image in Step S115.Specifically, the line-of-sight detection unit 10 a estimates adirection of a body of each user.

Next, in Step S118, the line-of-sight detection unit 10 a assumes afront direction of the body as the line-of-sight direction. With this,even in the case where an accurate line-of-sight direction of the usercannot be detected on the basis of the captured image or the headdirection cannot be estimated, it is possible to perform the readablearea determination described later by assuming the front direction ofthe body as the line-of-sight direction.

Then, in Step S121, the user context estimation unit 10 c estimates auser context on the basis of the detection result of the line of sightby the line-of-sight detection unit 10 a. For example, the user contextestimation unit 10 c estimates whether the user is reading a sentence orviewing a moving image as the user context in accordance with movementof the line-of-sight direction.

Then, in Step S124, the area determination unit 10 b determines areadable area of each user in accordance with the detection result bythe line-of-sight detection unit 10 a. Further, the area determinationunit 10 b refers to the user context estimated by the user contextestimation unit 10 c as necessary.

Herein, a specific example of the readable area determination performedby the area determination unit 10 b will be described with reference toFIG. 5 and FIG. 6. In the example shown in FIG. 5, a readable area R1 ofthe user A is determined. In the case where the whole range of the tabletop 6 is a presentation surface, an intersection of a line-of-sightdirection of the user A and the presentation surface is set to be afixation point P1 and the periphery of the fixation point P1 isdetermined as the readable area R1. The readable area R1 is an effectivefield of view in the field of view of the user A, the effective field ofview being a field of view in which the user can exert at least anexcellent information receiving ability to recognize matters, and may beset to be, for example, a range of 15 degrees in a horizontal directionfrom the fixation point P1 as shown in FIG. 5 or a range of 10 degreesin a vertical direction from the fixation point P1 as shown in FIG. 6. Aregion of the readable area determined as described above is indicated,for example, as follows.

user_id:12345,

readable_area:[x, y (fixation point P), H (short diameter), W (longdiameter)]

Herein, the fixation point P is set by using an origin O shown in FIG. 5as a base point, the short diameter H indicates a length in a vertical(longitudinal) direction in the field of view of the user by using thefixation point P as a base point, and the long diameter W indicates alength in a horizontal (lateral) direction in the field of view of theuser by using the fixation point P as a base point.

The readable area determination processing described above is similarlyperformed for the user B, and the readable areas of the user A and theuser B are output. Note that, in the examples shown in FIG. 5 and FIG.6, the readable area R has a unique size, such as a size having 15degrees in the horizontal direction and 10 degrees in the verticaldirection. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and aplurality of levels may be set as the size of the readable area.Further, the area determination unit 10 b may adjust the size of thereadable area in accordance with the above user context. Specifically,the area determination unit 10 b calculates the readable area by usingan area enlargement coefficient (Z) that has been set in advance inaccordance with the user context. The area enlargement coefficient (Z)is set to be smaller as a task needs to be more attentive. For example,the area enlargement coefficient is set to “Z=0.5” during reading and isset to “Z=0.8” during viewing a moving image.

An example of determination data of the readable area considering suchsetting on a plurality of levels and the user context is as follows.

user_id:12345,

100%_readable_area:[75,50,20′2,40*Z],

50%_readable_area:[75,50,40*Z,80*Z],

context:gazing_image

Hereinabove, the readable area determination processing according tothis embodiment has been specifically described. Next, the areadetermination unit 10 b determines a shared area and a confidential areaon the basis of the determined readable area of each user. Hereinafter,specific description will be provided with reference to FIGS. 7 to 8.

<3-2. Shared/Confidential Area Determination Processing>

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing shared/confidential area determinationprocessing according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 7, in StepS133, the area determination unit 10 b of the information processingapparatus 1 determines whether or not readable areas of a plurality ofusers are overlapped. For example, the readable area R1 of the user Aand a readable area R2 of the user B are overlapped in the vicinity ofthe center of the table top 6 in the example shown in FIG. 8.

Next, in the case where it is determined that the areas are overlapped(S133/Yes), the area determination unit 10 b calculates the center C ofmass of an overlapped part in Step S136.

Then, in Step S139, the area determination unit 10 b determines theshared area M on the basis of the center C of mass. The shared area Mmay have a maximum size in a region in which the readable area R1 of theuser A and the readable area R2 of the user B are overlapped overlappedas shown in FIG. 8 or may have a predetermined minimum size or more onthe basis of the center C of mass.

On the contrary, in the case where the areas are not overlapped(S133/No), shared area determination is not performed, and confidentialarea determination processing (S142 described next) is performed.

Then, in Step S142, the area determination unit 10 b determines whetheror not a region that is not overlapped with a readable area of anotheruser exists within a certain distance from a target user. For example,in the case where the confidential area of the user A is determined, thearea determination unit 10 b determines whether or not a region that isnot overlapped with the readable area R2 of the user B within a rangeobtained by drawing a circular arc with an average length of an armaround a position of the user A.

Next, in the case where a region that is not overlapped with thereadable area R of another user exists (S142/Yes), the areadetermination unit 10 b determines whether or not a region that keeps(is separated by) a certain distance from the readable area R of theanother user exists in Step S145.

In the case where there is no region that is not overlapped with thereadable area of the another user within the certain distance from thetarget user (S142/No) or in the case where there is no region that keepsthe certain distance from the readable area R of the another user(S145/No), the confidential area determination is not performed, and thedetermination processing is terminated.

Then, in the case where there is a region that keeps the certaindistance from the readable area R of the another user (S145/Yes), theregion is determined as the confidential area S of the target user inStep S148. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, a region that is within acertain distance from the user A, is not overlapped with the readablearea R2 of the user B, and keeps a certain distance from the readablearea R2 is determined as the confidential area S1. Such confidentialarea determination is performed for all users, and the confidentialareas S1 and S2 of the respective users are determined.

4. Presentation Control Example

Hereinabove, the configuration of the control system and the areadetermination processing according to this embodiment have beenspecifically described. Next, presentation control and the likeperformed by the information processing apparatus 1 on the basis of anarea determination result will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 to12.

<4-1. Presentation Control of Confidential Information>

In this embodiment, the output control unit 10 d of the informationprocessing apparatus 1 performs control so that information that needsto be secured (confidential information) is presented in theconfidential area S. What kind of information is presented in theconfidential area S is determined in accordance with predetermineddefinition information. This definition information may be set by auser, may be automatically set on the basis of a user's operationhistory, or may be updated by, for example, an update of software.

For example, as shown in FIG. 9, in the case where content 145 isoperated in the shared area M and content that needs to be secured (forexample, input screen of PIN code, input history display screen, orviewing history display screen) is opened, the output control unit 10 dperforms control so that such content 146 that needs to be secured ispresented in the confidential area S. With this, it is possible toprevent unintentional information leakage in the case where a pluralityof people perform simultaneous operation/viewing.

Further, in the case where an image gallery, an email screen(transmission/reception box), or the like is opened, the output controlunit 10 d may perform control so that the image gallery, the emailscreen, or the like is displayed in the confidential area S. Because theuser moves only a necessary content to the shared area M and shares thecontent, it is possible to prevent unnecessary information leakage.

In the case where the above content that needs to be secured is contentaccompanying sound such as a moving image and a directional speaker isconnected, the output control unit 10 d performs sound output control sothat the sound is transmitted only to an owner user of the content.

Note that, in the case where there is no highly confidential area, theoutput control unit 10 d may also perform control so that, before thecontent that needs to be secured is presented, for example, a dialog orthe like is presented to the user and the user gives approval, andthereafter the content is presented in the shared area M.

Further, the output control unit 10 d may also perform control so thatthe content is presented with a low resolution in the confidential areaS. With this, even in the case where the content is looked at by anotheruser, it is possible to prevent information leakage as much as possible.

<4-2. Movement of Content Between Areas>

Then, presentation control performed in the case where a user movescontent from the shared area M to the user's confidential area S or inthe case where the user moves content from the user's confidential areaS to the shared area M will be described with reference to FIG. 10 andFIG. 11.

(Movement of Content from Shared Area M)

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing automatic copy performed when content ismoved from the shared area M to the confidential area S. As shown inFIG. 10, when the content 145 presented in the shared area M is selectedand dragging thereof to the confidential area S is detected, the outputcontrol unit 10 d presents content 145 c obtained by copying theselected content 145 and moves the content 145 c in accordance withdragging operation performed by the user. Then, when the content 145 cis dropped in the confidential area S, the output control unit 10 dperforms control so that the content 145 c is presented in theconfidential area S.

With this, a single user's content operation does not interrupt anotheruser viewing content. Note that the content 145 is automatically copiedwhen the user selects the content 145 in the example shown in FIG. 10,but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, thecontent 145 may be automatically copied when the content 145 reaches anouter edge of the shared area M.

In the case where a directional speaker is connected, the informationprocessing apparatus 1 performs control so that a sound volume isoptimized for each user after the content is copied and sound is outputto each user, and therefore it is possible not to interrupt each userviewing content.

(Movement of Content from Confidential Area S)

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing optimization control performed when contentis moved from the confidential area S to the shared area M. As shown inFIG. 11, in the case where an image gallery is displayed in the form oflist in the confidential area S, a user selects content 147 to be sharedwith another user from the list and moves the content to the shared areaM. At this time, the output control unit 10 d performs control so thatthe content 147 is copied to generate content 147 c and the content ispresented with a size and a resolution suitable for viewing by aplurality of people.

As described above, the content is controlled so that, in the case wherethe content is presented in the shared area M, the content is presentedin a state suitable for viewing by a plurality of people, and thereforeit is possible to improve usability. Note that optimization ofpresentation of the content based on viewing by a plurality of people isnot limited to the above automatic enlargement or increase inresolution. For example, a presentation position, a presentationdirection, a presentation angle, or the like of the content in theshared area M may be optimized for viewing by a plurality of people.

Further, the output control unit 10 d may perform control (adjust aspeaker direction in the case where there is a directional speaker) sothat, based on a detection result of a line of sight of each user, thecontent is presented at an optimal position for viewing by a pluralityof people in the case where a plurality of users view the content and,when a line of sight of another user is removed, the content ispresented at an optimal position for remaining viewing users.

In the case of content accompanying sound such as a moving image andwhen a directional speaker is connected, the output control unit 10 dperforms control so that the sound is output only to a user who owns thecontent in the confidential area S and performs control so that, afterthe content is moved to the shared area M, a directionality directionand a sound volume are optimized so that the content is optimally viewedby all users.

<4-3. Hiding/Deleting of Confidential Information when Content is Moved>

Next, presentation control to automatically hide/delete confidentialinformation contained in content in the case where the content is movedto the shared area M will be described.

For example, in the case where an email box is displayed in theconfidential area S, the user selects a necessary email and drags andmoves the necessary email from the confidential area S to the sharedarea M (movement of the content to the shared area M is similar to thecase shown in FIG. 11), the output control unit 10 d can preventunintentional information leakage by automatically hiding or deletingconfidential information (for example, address information of the emailand exif information of an image) contained in the email. Definition ofthe confidential information to be deleted/hidden may be set as systeminformation in advance, may be set by the user, may be automatically seton the basis of the user's operation history, or may be updated by, forexample, an update of software.

Herein, a specific example of hiding/deleting confidential informationwill be described with reference to FIG. 12. A left drawing in FIG. 12shows content 149 presented in the confidential area S (herein, a listscreen of sent emails is used as an example). In the case where thecontent 149 is moved from the confidential area S to the shared area M,the output control unit 10 d copies the content 149, changes a size anda resolution of a copied content 149 c optimal for viewing by aplurality of people, and then hides/deletes confidential information.

Specifically, as shown in a right drawing in FIG. 12, the output controlunit 10 d hides address information of emails in the content 149 c anddisplays a display switching button N in the vicinity of a hidden part.The display switching button N is a button for switching hidden displayof the address information of the emails, and, when the displayswitching button is selected, hidden display is removed and the addressinformation of the emails can be seen. Further, operation of the displayswitching button N may be performed only by a user (owner) who providesthe content.

Hereinabove, the presentation control according to this embodiment hasbeen described. Note that a line of sight of a target user istemporarily directed to the confidential area S when, for example, thecontent is moved, but the readable area, the shared area, and theconfidential area may be maintained when a time period in which the lineof sight is directed to the confidential area S is within a certain timeperiod. Further, the area determination unit 10 b according to thisembodiment may update determination of the readable area, the sharedarea, and the confidential area for each predetermined time period.

5. Modification Example

Hereinabove, the control system according to this embodiment has beenspecifically described. In this embodiment, the table top 6 is used asan example of a presentation surface of information, and there is alsoassumed a case where an object (PC, book, or the like) is placed on thetable top 6. In this case, a field of view of a user is influenced insome cases depending on a position or size of the object. In view ofthis, considering an object placed on the table top 6 at the time ofarea determination will be described in a modification example of thisembodiment.

<5-1. Outline>

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an outline of area determinationconsidering object recognition according to the modification example ofthis embodiment. As shown in FIG. 13, in the case where an object 9exists on the table top 6, a field of view of each user is blocked bythe object 9 depending on a height of the object 9. For example, theuser A cannot see an opposite side of the object 9 (user B side), andthe user B cannot see an opposite side of the object 9 (user A side).Therefore, readable areas of the users are different from the readableareas R1 and R2 shown in FIG. 8 and are readable areas R1′ and R2′obtained by removing the regions on the opposite sides of the object 9as shown in FIG. 13.

As described above, when the readable areas R1′ and R2′ are changed, ashared area M′ is also changed because a region in which the readableareas are overlapped is also different. Further, confidential areas S1′and S2′ of the respective users are also changed in accordance with achange in the readable areas R1′ and R2′. Area determination processingconsidering such object recognition on the table top 6 will be describedwith reference to FIG. 14.

<5-2. Operation Processing>

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the area determination processingconsidering an object according to the modification example of thisembodiment. As shown in FIG. 14, first, in Step S200, the areadetermination unit 10 b of the information processing apparatus 1performs normal readable area determination processing. The normalreadable area determination processing is specifically the determinationprocessing that has been described with reference to FIG. 4.

Next, in Step S203, the area determination unit 10 b determines whetheror not an object exists on the table top 6. Object recognition isperformed on the basis of, for example, a captured image acquired by theimage pickup device 2. At this time, the area determination unit 10 brecognizes a position, a size, a height, and the like of the object.

Then, in the case where it is determined that an object exists(S203/Yes), the area determination unit 10 b determines whether or notan object area and a readable area are overlapped in Step S206. Theobject area is a region in which the object 9 and the table top 6 arebrought into contact with each other.

Then, in the case where it is determined that the object area and thereadable area are overlapped (S206/Yes), the area determination unit 10b excludes the object area and, if necessary, a region on the oppositeside of the object 9 seen from a target user from the readable area anddetermines the readable area again in Step S209. In the case where theobject 9 is high, a line of sight of the user is blocked, and thereforenot only the object area (region hidden by the object 9) but also theopposite side of the object 9 cannot be seen. Therefore, the areadetermination unit 10 b adjusts the readable area of the target user inconsideration of the position and the height of the object 9, apositional relationship between the object 9 and the target user, andthe like.

Then, in Step S212, the area determination unit 10 b performs theshared/confidential area determination processing that has beendescribed with reference to FIG. 7.

As described above, in the modification example of this embodiment, itis possible to determine each area also in consideration of an objectplaced on the table top.

6. Conclusion

As described above, in the control system according to the embodimentsof the present disclosure, it is possible to differentiate between anarea that can be visually recognized only by a specified user(confidential area) and an area that can be visually recognized by allusers (shared area) on the information presentation surface (forexample, table top 6) which is simultaneously viewed by a plurality ofpeople. In addition, it is possible to ensure security while regardingconvenience of joint viewing by a plurality of people as important byperforming information presentation control in accordance with acharacteristic of each area.

The preferred embodiment(s) of the present disclosure has/have beendescribed above with reference to the accompanying drawings, whilst thepresent technology is not limited to the above examples. A personskilled in the art may find various alterations and modifications withinthe scope of the appended claims, and it should be understood that theywill naturally come under the technical scope of the present disclosure.

For example, a computer program for exerting a function of theinformation processing apparatus 1 can be prepared in hardware such asthe CPU, the ROM, and the RAM included in the above informationprocessing apparatus 1. Further, a computer readable storage medium inwhich the computer program is stored is also provided.

In the case where content cannot be optimally displayed because a sharedarea is small, the output control unit 10 d may perform control so thata copy of the same content is presented in the confidential area of eachuser.

The information presentation surface is not limited to the table top 6and may be, for example, a wall surface.

The line-of-sight detection unit 10 a may dynamically switch sensinginformation (captured image, sound data, and the like) for use indetection of a line of sight of a user. With this, it is possible toreduce a change in line-of-sight detection accuracy caused by a sensingsituation.

Further, the effects described in this specification are merelyillustrative or exemplified effects, and are not limitative. That is,with or in the place of the above effects, the technology according tothe present disclosure may achieve other effects that are clear to thoseskilled in the art based on the description of this specification.Additionally, the present technology may also be configured as below.

(1)

An information processing apparatus, including:

a line-of-sight detection unit configured to detect lines of sight of aplurality of users with respect to presentation information; and

an area determination unit configured to determine, on the basis of thedetected lines of sight of the plurality of users, a shared area that isvisually recognized by the plurality of users to share information and aconfidential area that is not visually recognized by another user tokeep information of each user confidential.

(2)

The information processing apparatus according to (1),

wherein, on a presentation surface of the presentation information, thearea determination unit determines a region in which field-of-viewranges based on the detected lines of sight of the plurality of usersare overlapped as the shared area and determines a region in which thefield-of-view ranges of the plurality of users are not overlapped as theconfidential area.

(3)

The information processing apparatus according to (2),

wherein the confidential area is further determined as a region within acertain distance from a target user.

(4)

The information processing apparatus according to (2) or (3),

wherein the confidential area is further determined as a regionseparated by a certain distance from the shared area.

(5)

The information processing apparatus according to any one of (2) to (4),

wherein the area determination unit adjusts a size of the field-of-viewrange of each user in accordance with user context of each user.

(6)

The information processing apparatus according to (5),

wherein the user context indicates what a user is looking at and isestimated on the basis of movement of the line of sight of the user.

(7)

The information processing apparatus according to any one of (1) to (6),further including

an output control unit configured to perform output control of thepresentation information presented on a presentation surface inaccordance with a result of determination performed by the areadetermination unit.

(8)

The information processing apparatus according to (7),

wherein, in the case where information that needs to be secured isopened, the output control unit performs control in a manner that theinformation is presented in the confidential area.

(9)

The information processing apparatus according to (7) or (8),

wherein the output control unit performs control in a manner thatinformation is presented in the confidential area with a low resolution.

(10)

The information processing apparatus according to any one of (7) to (9),

wherein, in the case where information presented in the shared area ismoved to a confidential area of the user by user operation, the outputcontrol unit performs control in a manner that the information is copiedand is presented in the confidential area.

(11)

The information processing apparatus according to any one of (7) to(10),

wherein, in the case where information presented in the confidentialarea is moved to the shared area by user operation, the output controlunit performs control in a manner that the information is copied, ischanged to have a size and a resolution suitable for shared viewing, andis then presented in the confidential area.

(12)

The information processing apparatus according to any one of (7) to(11),

wherein, in the case where information presented in the confidentialarea is moved to the shared area by user operation, the output controlunit performs control in a manner that the information is copied,confidential information contained in the copied information is hiddenor deleted, and then the information is presented in the confidentialarea.

(13)

The information processing apparatus according to any one of (1) to(12),

wherein the line-of-sight detection unit detects a line of sight on thebasis of a line-of-sight direction, a head direction, or a posture ofthe user.

(14)

The information processing apparatus according to (13),

wherein the line-of-sight direction, the head direction, or the postureof the user is estimated on the basis of at least one of a capturedimage of the user captured by an image pickup device and sound data ofthe user picked up by a sound pickup device.

(15)

The information processing apparatus according to (7),

wherein the output control unit performs information display control ona display screen or information projection control on a plane ofprojection.

(16)

The information processing apparatus according to (15), wherein thedisplay screen or the plane of projection is a table top.

(17)

The information processing apparatus according to (7),

wherein the output control unit performs output control of sound havingdirectionality from a speaker.

(18)

The information processing apparatus according to (2),

wherein the area determination unit adjusts a size of the field-of-viewrange of each user in accordance with a recognition result of an objectexisting on the presentation surface.

(19)

A control method, including:

detecting lines of sight of a plurality of users with respect topresentation information; and

determining, on the basis of the detected lines of sight of theplurality of users, a shared area that is visually recognized by theplurality of users to share information and a confidential area that isnot visually recognized by another user to keep information of each userconfidential.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   1 information processing apparatus-   10 control unit-   10 a line-of-sight detection unit-   10 b area determination unit-   10 c user context estimation unit-   10 d output control unit-   11 communication unit-   13 storage unit-   14 projection unit-   2, 2 a to 2 b image pickup device-   3, 3 a to 3 b speaker-   4, 4 a to 4 b microphone-   5 ceiling hanging unit-   6 table top-   7 network-   8 content DB-   9 object-   M shared area-   S confidential area-   R readable area

What is claimed is:
 1. An information processing apparatus, comprising:at least one processor configured to: acquire visible area informationof a visible area of a user of a plurality of users with respect to apresentation surface; determine an object placed on the presentationsurface; correct the visible area information based on each of aposition of the object on the presentation surface and a height of theobject; determine, on the presentation surface, a shared area for theplurality of users and a confidential area for the user, based on thecorrected visible area information; control display of content includingshare information and confidential information, wherein the confidentialinformation is displayed in the confidential area, the share informationis displayed in the shared area, the share information not being neededto be secured, and the confidential information being needed to besecured in the shared area; determine a movement of the contentincluding the share information and the confidential information fromthe confidential area to the shared area; and control, based on thedetermination of the movement of the content, non-display of at least apart of the confidential information to one of hide or delete the partof confidential information.
 2. The information processing apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is furtherconfigured to control the non-display of at least the part of theconfidential information to fill in at least a part of the shared areawhere the confidential information is displayed.
 3. The informationprocessing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the at least oneprocessor is further configured to control the non-display of at leastthe part of the confidential information to fill in at least the part ofthe shared area with a specific color.
 4. The information processingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one processor isfurther configured to control display of a switching button, thedisplayed switching button is configured to switch a display state ofthe confidential information between a first display state and a seconddisplay state, the first display state is a display state in which theconfidential information is displayed in the shared area, and the seconddisplay state is a display state in which the confidential informationis not displayed in the shared area.
 5. The information processingapparatus according to claim 4, wherein the at least one processor isfurther configured to authorize the user to control the switchingbutton.
 6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5,wherein the at least one processor is further configured to change aninformation volume based on the determination of the movement of thecontent of the user from the confidential area to the shared area. 7.The information processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein theat least one processor is further configured to control the movement ofthe content between the shared area and the confidential area based on auser input.
 8. The information processing apparatus according to claim1, wherein the shared area is visible to the plurality of users.
 9. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theobject is one of a PC or a book.
 10. A method, comprising: acquiringvisible area information of a visible area of a user of a plurality ofusers with respect to a presentation surface; determining an objectplaced on the presentation surface; correcting the visible areainformation based on each of a position of the object on thepresentation surface and a height of the object; determining, on thepresentation surface, a shared area for the plurality of users and aconfidential area for the user, based on the corrected visible areainformation; controlling display of content including share informationand confidential information, wherein the confidential information isdisplayed in the confidential area, the share information is displayedin the shared area, the share information not being needed to besecured, and the confidential information being needed to be secured inthe shared area; determining a movement of the content including theshare information and the confidential information from the confidentialarea to the shared area; and controlling, based on the determination ofthe movement of the content, non-display of at least a part of theconfidential information to one of hide or delete the part ofconfidential information.
 11. A non-transitory computer-readable mediumhaving stored thereon, computer-executable instructions, which whenexecuted by a processor of a first information processing device, causethe processor to execute operations, the operations comprising:acquiring visible area information of a visible area of a user of aplurality of users with respect to a presentation surface; determiningan object placed on the presentation surface; correcting the visiblearea information based on each of a position of the object on thepresentation surface and a height of the object; determining, on thepresentation surface, a shared area for the plurality of users and aconfidential area for the user, based on the corrected visible areainformation; controlling display of content including share informationand confidential information, wherein the confidential information isdisplayed in the confidential area, the share information is displayedin the shared area, the share information not being needed to besecured, and the confidential information being needed to be secured inthe shared area; determining a movement of the content including theshare information and the confidential information from the confidentialarea to the shared area; and controlling, based on the determination ofthe movement of the content, non-display of at least a part of theconfidential information to one of hide or delete the part ofconfidential information.